Roy's Mistake
by NarutoRox
Summary: Long after Roy's dream of becoming Fuhrer is realized, he tells the story of his biggest mistake: Namely, how he handled his relationship with his precious Riza Hawkeye. *Spoilers for the end of the manga and/or Brotherhood anime* One shot. Complete.


**A/N: **This was written quite a while ago - right after I watched the end of the Brotherhood anime, to be precise - and unearthed from a notebook a few months ago. I was a little frustrated with how the series ended for Roy and Riza, so this was how I coped with it. It's not quite on par with my work as of late, as it was one of the first fanfictions I ever wrote, but I didn't want to change too much of the original so only a little editing was done.

Not quite sure if it really qualifies for the hurt/comfort genre, but that's what felt right to me.

Anyways, here it is. Goes without saying, but some mild plot spoilers for the end of the manga and Brotherhood anime.

Enjoy! ^_^

* * *

~Roy's Mistake~

The little girl, her dark hair drawn in pigtails, grinned wider when she caught sight of him and positively flew across the courtyard to his table, throwing herself in his lap with another squeal.

"Well well, having fun, are you?" Roy asked, eyes sparkling. The girl always had that effect on him.

"May, you can't go and attack the Führer like that," Elicia laughed softly when she finally caught up. "The soldiers will think you're a ferocious beast!" she teased.

"Nu-uh," May said, crossing her arms and sticking her lower lip out. "I'm too _pretty _to be a beast. A-aren't I?" she added hesitantly, turning her wide eyes to Roy.

Roy fought the smile creeping up his face and put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Oh, I don't know, you _are _pretty ferocious..." he said, watching as May's eyes went impossibly wider. "But if you're a beast, you're the _cutest _little beast I've ever seen." He grinned and winked at May, who shot a delighted yet smug look to Elicia.

Elicia rolled her eyes but smiled anyway.

"Honestly," she scoffed at Roy. "You sound just like my father. God only knows how spoiled she'd be if he were here."

Her smile became a sad one, as did Roy's. That was years and years in the past - Elicia had been about May's age - and yet she still talked about Maes as though it was yesterday. They all did.

Little May, perhaps sensing the change in the atmosphere, squirmed in Roy's lap, a troubled look on her face. Then, with a look of determination, she abruptly leapt up, marched over to one of the flowering bushes, and began ripping the blooms off of it.

"May!" Elicia cried, scandalized. "You can't go destroying the garden!"

May frowned, a fistful of flowers in each hand. "I'm picking flowers! You said people like to get flowers when they're sad." she said earnestly. She walked back over to them and dropped some of the blooms in Roy's lap, then handed the rest to Elicia.

Elicia's eyes softened. "Thank you, May, that's very kind. But-"

"It's fine, Elicia." Roy said with a chuckle. "She's not hurting anything. Besides, how can I say no to a pretty girl giving me flowers, eh?"

May beamed, then climbed into the empty chair at the table, grabbing one of the unused teacups and trying to arrange some of the flowers in them.

Elicia and Roy exchanged a look before something in the distance caught Elicia's attention.

"I'll be right back, May. There's someone I need to talk to, then we can play some more, okay? Uh-" Elicia glanced uncertainly at Roy, who raised his hand.

"She's fine, go right ahead." he said cheerfully.

May busied herself with her haphazard arrangement for a few moments, before turning her full attention to Roy.

"What's a heartbreaker?" she asked suddenly, her head cocked to one side.

Roy raised his eyebrows.

"Now where would you hear a thing like that?" he asked.

"Uncle Jean." May answered carelessly. "I was playing with the little boy next door yesterday while Uncle Jean was talking to Mommy, and he said I was 'already a heartbreaker'. What does that mean?"

Roy made a mental note to order Havoc to watch his mouth around the girl. God knew what else he was teaching her.

"Really? And what else did Uncle Jean tell you?" he asked as he took a sip of tea.

"That you're a womanizer." she deadpanned.

Roy choked on his tea. "D-did he, now?"

"Uh-huh," she said, nodding seriously. "I asked Mommy, and she said that it fit you to a 'T'."

Roy scowled. "Glad to see you mother's opinion of me is so high." he muttered.

"She also said you're a hopeless flirt with no common sense when it comes to women." May said, to Roy's horror. He spluttered for a few seconds before half-laughing and pressing a palm to his forehead.

"Well, I suppose she's right, there." he sighed with a chuckle.

May cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Roy sighed again and gazed off into the distance.

"I mean, when it comes to the most important woman of all, I'm a fool."

May blinked, then climbed down from her chair and crawled into Roy's lap. "I don't think you're a fool." she told him solemnly. Roy smiled sadly down at her.

"I know a woman who would say otherwise," he said.

"Why?" May's innocent curiosity was never-ending. "Did you do something to make her mad?"

Roy paused and held his breath before answering. "Well...it was more about what I _didn't _do." he said, exhaling slowly.

May crinkled her nose. "Huh?"

Roy chuckled. "I suppose you're old enough to hear the story. Better from me than Elicia or Havoc." he muttered under his breath. May perked up at the word 'story', sitting at attention and blinking expectantly.

Roy laughed at her suddenly serious demeanor. "Well, you see..."

* * *

_I'd known her since before my days as the famed Flame Alchemist of the Ishval war._

_In fact, I'd learned those particular skills from her father, but that's another story entirely._

_In any case, it was the Ishval war that caused us to cross paths again, and I'd be lying if I said the change in her didn't surprise me. The years had been about as kind to her as they had to me, but none of that mattered. It's odd, huh? I've never been one to believe in fate or destiny - and yet, if there was such a thing, it would seem as though mine was somehow entangled in Riza Hawkeye's._

_We were closer than ever, after Ishval._ _I won't say why; that's between us. But it wasn't long before she was my loyal, indispensable subordinate - the queen of my chessboard._

_Now I'll admit there was more than one reason I always referred to her as my Queen, but then? No. My goals then were lofty, and it was better for everyone if Lt. Hawkeye and I remained as we were. Yes, the thought of changing that fitted across my mind a time or two, but I just as soon dismissed it. I was her superior, and Military law forbade any romantic relationships while we worked together._

_The easy fix to that, of course, was not to work together, but I was selfish. I didn't _want_ to work with anyone other than her. My dream was to make it to the top, and in order to do that, I needed Hawkeye as my right hand - not as the ring on my left I secretly wanted._

_I wasn't completely blind - I knew, deep down, what Riza really wanted, too; I could see it in flashes, in some of our darkest moments._

_When she thought me dead at the hands of the homunculus, Lust._

_Afterward, when I was in the hospital._

_When our eyes met briefly, after Bradley reassigned her._

_It was felt, but never said aloud. She ignored it all, intent on following me into Hell itself if necessary, all for the sake of _my_ dream._

_I let it happen._

_I'm such an idiot._

_She_ _stuck through it all. The coup, the military scandal, my literal blindness, everything. She was always by my side, and before I knew it, I was a General, and still, there she was, my right hand woman. My Lt. Hawkeye. My Riza._

_Out lives had all but passed us by, but there we were, where I -we- had always wanted._

_I was just weeks from being named Führer._

_It was during this time that it occurred to me that in all the years as my lieutenant, she had never once called me 'Roy', and that I hadn't called her by her first name (aloud, anyway), either._

_Who in the hell stays in love with someone that long without ever even using their given name?_

_That realization hit me hard - that day, I remember casually (or what I thought passed for it) asking her if she could remember the last time I called her by her given name. She just quirked an eyebrow at me and said that was an odd question before calmly going back to her work._

_That day, I made my decision. I knew what my first act as Führer would be, and when the day came, I called Haw- Riza, into my office with grim determination._

_And I fired her._

* * *

"You _what_?!" cried May, jumping up with a look of righteous indignation. "Why would you do that?!"

Roy blinked, startled out of the trance the story had put him in.

"W-well, I told you, Martial Law forbade us from getting together, so- you do know what 'fired' means, right?" Roy asked, frowning. "Not flames fired, like I do, but-"

"I _know _what it means," May said with an impatience not at all like a girl her age. "Mommy explained it to me. But why would you just go and fire her! Wouldn't that make her sad?"

Roy chuckled sheepishly. "Well...yes. It wasn't something to spring up on her like I did; I should have discussed it with her. But in any case, can I get back to my story?"

May nodded and dutifully returned to sitting calmly in his lap.

"Thank you. Now..."

* * *

_She was quiet for a minute while she processed what I said._

_Then she rolled her eyes and started going through some paperwork on my desk._

_She assumed I was joking. It took twenty minutes and my showing her the letter of honorable discharge before she believed me._

_I'll never forget the stunned, hurt look in her eyes as she read that stupid letter. I hadn't felt that much panic during my toughest battle as I felt when those hurt eyes met mine. She only said one word as she sat down, her face stoic._

_"Why?"_

_So I told her the truth. Because I was tired of calling her lieutenant._

_Her face remained impassive, though the look in her eyes changed to something I couldn't read back then as she asked what that meant._

_I said "It means, Riza, that I was wondering if maybe you would like to have dinner with me tonight. And that maybe we could discuss a...change, in our relationship. Maybe more of a...partnership?"_

* * *

May's eyes widened as Roy grinned at her.

"And do you know what she said to me?" he asked with a soft chuckle.

" 'I'll think about it.' " Riza said from a few feet behind him. Elicia laughed from over her shoulder.

"Mommy!" squealed May, leaping out of Roy's lap to throw her arms around Riza. "You really said that? And Daddy really fired you?"

"Yes, and of course not." Riza scoffed, picking May up to give her a proper hug. "I quit."

Elicia laughed harder as Roy scowled at her. "Really? I haven't heard this one before."

Riza nodded as she sat down. "Turned my letter of resignation in two days later. After I let the Führer sweat it out a little." she said, half smiling to herself.

Roy gave her an irate look. "It's not funny. Marched right out of my office without another word. Wouldn't come see me, wouldn't return my calls, wouldn't answer the door..."

Riza shrugged. "What can I say? You tried to fire me." she said mildly, pouring herself a cup of tea. May giggled at the sour look on her father's face.

"I think it says something about you that you were more angry at him for trying to fire you than the fact it took him so long to propose." Elicia said in a neutral tone. Riza didn't dignify that with a response, though Roy shot her an annoyed look that let her know she only got away with saying anything because she was a family friend. Elicia winked at him.

Deciding the fun was over and the grown-ups weren't doing anything interesting, May wiggled out of her mother's lap.

"Elicia? Can we play some more before you go home?" she asked, wide, dark eyes pleading. Elicia beamed.

"Sure! Let's go play by the fountain, though, huh?"

May gave a delighted cry and grabbed Elicia's hand, who waved at Roy and Riza as the younger girl yanked her away. Riza smiled after them while Roy laughed.

Roy watched them splash around for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"So, how long had you been listening?" he asked quietly.

Riza didn't even bother to look up from the newspaper she was reading.

"A while. Elicia and I were just over the hedge the whole time."

Roy frowned. "Then you really did tell May those things?"

"I wasn't going to lie to her."

Only when Roy spluttered did Riza finally peak over the newspaper.

"You're the one who told her you're a fool," she pointed out. He gave her a childish grin.

"But I'm your fool." he snickered, resting his chin in his hand.

Riza blinked, then returned to her paper. "If you say so, _dear_."

"Oh come on, I know you think I'm charming..."

"Sure, sure."

"And romantic..."

"Mmm-hmm."

"And studly."

"Don't press your luck, Roy."

"And-"

From across the garden Elicia and May laughed as they watched the Führer flirt with his wife.

"You know, I think Mr. Havoc was right about the Führer," Elicia chuckled. "But Mrs. Mustang is just as bad!"

* * *

**A/N: **I know I know, a bit predictable, but in my head some variation of this happened: Roy became Fuhrer and then he and Riza finally (officially) got together.

Quick note on Ishval - I know it's sometimes spelled Ishbal, but I went ahead and stuck with the Ishval spelling. There's not really a reason other than that's how it kept coming out when I wrote it. ^_^'

So? What did you think? I'd love to hear your opinions - reviews are always appreciated! :)


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